Ever wondered how things work in the Buffalo Bills draft room? (Don't lie. We know the answer is yes.) We may never know how the war room operated under previous regimes - other than "ineffectively," of course - but thanks to Chan Gailey's conversation with ESPN's Tim Graham at the NFL owners meetings earlier this week, we do know a few things about how the Bills approach draft day.
Information, not opinion. NFL scouts provide ultra-important input to the draft process, but on draft day, they're in the war room to provide GM Buddy Nix information - not opinions. The same goes for assistant coaches. "Buddy and I, when we started this whole thing, we said, 'If somebody is trying to persuade us, we're going to put him out the room'" said Gailey. "I told the coaches, 'Don't try to talk us into anybody. Give us information. Then let Buddy make a decision.'"
Ralph stays out of it. Team owner Ralph Wilson has a reputation for being meddlesome in the war room, but Gailey insists that is not the truth. "He has all influence, every bit of influence," Gailey said. "He says, 'Take this guy,' we take him. But he's smart enough not to do that. He hired people to do a job. He lets them do their job. He's letting us do our job. That's what I've seen."
Make sure you're checking out everything Gailey told Graham earlier this week. Some interesting - and possibly heartening - stuff in there.